Chapter 216 - Business Plans (1/2)

The plump Patrick Pom sat rather awkwardly and restlessly in the parlor of the Cecil feudal lord’s “castle”. He adjusted his tie for the third time.

He wasn’t someone who was green and inexperienced, but it would be difficult — even for people who’d had the most experiences in this world — to get the opportunity for a private talk with a pioneering hero. He knew that the situation this time was completely different from that talk in the Kant territory previously. The last time, he’d accepted Duke Cecil’s appointment as a representative of the Kant territory, and this time, Duke Cecil had gotten him to come over from the Kant territory for a private, face-to-face conversation.

The pressure resulting from these two kinds of talks was entirely different.

And at the same time, Patrick was also curiously surveying this place that was incomparably novel in his eyes.

This residence was Duke Cecil’s “castle”, but its style and profile were completely different from the aristocratic forts in the masses’ impression. Instead of calling it a castle, it was closer to the construction style of “vacation manors” that had recently sprung up amongst some aristocrats in the central region. It probably wasn’t as sturdy as a castle, but the environment inside was surprisingly comfortable: broad casement windows, a bright parlor, and warm corridors and rooms. Moreover, the humid and rotten smell often present in castles couldn’t be detected in the air at all. This was something truly astonishing.

The majority of the walls here had been painted a spotless white with bright magic crystal lamps illuminating every corner of this building like they were free —— in fact, it wasn’t solely inside this castle; ever since entering the Cecil territory, the number of magic crystal lamps that Patrick had seen had even exceeded the total number of magic crystal lamps he had ever seen in the earlier half of his life.

The heavens would know how this pioneer territory that was just constructed managed to achieve this —— in just a few months, orderly rows of brick houses had been erected; broad and straight streets were built; piers, sawmills, and logging sheds were all available. And amongst all of these, the most striking thing was the magic crystal lamps that were lit up once it was almost dusk. They’d actually been installed in rows by the two sides of the roads and in front of the doors of the residential houses — not used to illuminate the feudal lord’s residence, but illuminated places where the common people resided.

Originally, Patrick had felt that the Kant territory allowing half of its residents to light up oil lamps at nightfall was already a remarkable, magnificent feat, but after seeing the Cecil territory that was brightly lit in the night, he actually felt the town he was familiar with instantly become gloomy and dim in comparison.

How wealthy was the Cecil territory? Had they employed tens to hundreds of official Mages to specially charge the lamps in front of the common people’s doors?

Besides, what was with this unbelievable construction speed of theirs? What was with the construction projects that still did not stop in winter? And what was up with those residents who moved freely in the territory, chatted loudly, and did not tremble in fear when they saw soldiers on patrol? What were those huge buildings called factories that emitted loud noises?

It was as if countless mysteries cloaked this territory, but Patrick did not dare to pursue further. He knew the owner of this land, knew the background of that Duke Gawain Cecil —— a legend who went through the Gondor period and the Second Settlement. It was said that he’d also established an agreement with the four elemental lords; he had close relationships with the royals of the elves and the dwarfs. Such a person was almost “non-human” in Patrick’s eyes. Even if he’d borrowed the powers of the elemental lords to build this territory, Patrick found it absolutely unproblematic ——but if he were to have a loose tongue in this aspect as a nobody, the problem would be big.

When Patrick adjusted his tie for the fourth time. That little maidservant who appeared to be muddle-headed walked forward again and filled up the teacup on the round table for the umpteenth time. “Sir, please have tea.”

“Oh, oh. Thank you.” Patrick let out a burp with the sound of water. But he’d learned this time. He only picked up the teacup and took a small sip. —— He already realized that this young lady before him wasn’t intentionally making things difficult for him, nor had she been instructed by the Duke to sound him out. On the contrary, she probably really hadn’t learned from high-ranked maidservants or maidservant supervisors on how to receive guests. She only recklessly filled up the guest’s teacup again and again and then watched the guest drink the tea. However, if the guest was too honest or thought too much —— for example, himself half an hour ago —— there was an extremely high chance of being chugged to death by her through tea.

“May I ask…? Does the Duke know that I’m here?” After putting the teacup down, Patrick gingerly looked at Betty and asked.

She was only a mere maidservant. In terms of status, she could never compare to himself, who was a feudal lord advisor (ex). But only a fool would use such a simple way of comparison —— it was true that this young lady was a maidservant, but she was the Duke’s maidservant!

Then this “Duke’s maidservant” fell into a daze for a few seconds with her finger propping up a chin. After thinking hard for a while, Betty shook her head. “I don’t know!”

Patrick sighed and gave up trying to inquire anything from Betty.

And just then, the doors of the parlor were finally pushed open. A tall and big figure stood there and made Patrick, who’d just finished sighing, leap to his feet on reflex.

“Sorry to have kept you waiting,” Gawain walked into the room while speaking with a smile. “I was inspecting the alchemy factory, and sorting out the samples took up some time. ——Betty, have you served the guest tea?”

Betty lifted the big teapot in her hands. “I have!”

Patrick instinctively burped upon hearing the sound of water in that big teapot…

Gawain was dumbfounded. Why was there an echo with this plump mister’s burp?

But he did not delve into this matter. Instead, he was very gratified by the growth of his little maidservant. After giving the young lady a smile of approval, he looked towards Mr. Patrick who was a little nervous and burped with an echo. “Sir Philip was full of praises for you. When he came back the previous time to report on the situation, he mentioned that you had the finances of the Kant territory well-organized. Not only were the supply of resources for winter guaranteed, you even steadied the merchants who traded with the Kant territory in the situation where the feudal lord had passed away and got them to still do business with the Kant territory in the coming year?”